Chandler PD submits charge against Lori Daybell in death of former husband, Charles Vallow

CHANDLER, AZ — The Chandler Police Department on Thursday announced it has submitted charges for Lori Daybell in the death of her former husband Charles Vallow.

The department says it submitted a charge of conspiracy to commit first degree murder, which is now under review by the Maricopa County Attorney's Office.

The MCAO confirmed to ABC15 that it has received the paperwork and said it does not have a timeline for when a charging decision might be made.

This announcement comes as court paperwork was filed Thursday in Idaho deeming Lori Daybell unfit to stand trial following a psychiatric review.

According to a police report, on July 11, 2019, Lori Daybell's brother, Alex Cox, shot and killed Charles Vallow in Lori Daybell's Chandler home.

Vallow went to his then-wife's home around 8:30 a.m. that day, and the two got into an argument, according to a statement from Chandler police. It was not immediately clear how long the couple had not been living together at that point.

Cox allegedly intervened in an attempt to de-escalate the situation, but he and Vallow then got into a physical altercation, police said.

Vallow struck Cox in the head with a baseball bat, then Cox shot Vallow twice in the chest, according to police.

Vallow was pronounced dead at the scene. No charges were filed against Cox.

About six months after that shooting, on Dec. 11, 2019, Cox was found unresponsive in his Gilbert home and was later pronounced dead, according to Gilbert police.

On Wednesday, Lori Daybell and her current husband, Chad Daybell, appeared in an Idaho courtroom for their initial appearance on charges of first-degree murder in the deaths of Lori's two children, one day after the prosecutors announced additional charges against them.

During Chad Daybell's hearing, the new charges were formally read to him.

A grand jury indicted both Chad and Lori on several new charges, prosecutors announced Tuesday: first-degree murder in the deaths of Vallow's children, Tylee Ryan, then 16, and "JJ" Vallow, then seven; conspiracy to commit first-degree murder and grand theft by deception; and conspiracy to commit first-degree murder in the death of Tamara "Tammy" Daybell, Chad Daybell's ex-wife.

The indictment also revealed new details in how the killings are alleged to have happened.

"JJ" Vallow and Tylee Ryan were last seen in the fall of 2019. Last year, their bodies were found buried in the backyard of Chad Daybell's home in Idaho.

See a timeline of events in the player below.